DUBLIN, Ohio — Unemployment levels hit an all-time high at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, putting many Ohioans, like Beth Held, in situations they were not expecting.

“I have worked since I was 16 years old,” Held said. “his is the longest I have ever been off work.”

She was working in business administration when she was furloughed in April, something she was told would only last until the summer.

“I got a call again unexpectedly in late July that, no the furlough was going to end Aug. 1, and actually my position was being eliminated,” she said.

Ken lazar operates Ability Professional Network in Dublin where he helps place people into jobs — a task he said became challenging in the spring.

In April, we were up 14 percent unemployment because everybody was laid off,” said Lazar.

He said the pandemic is affecting how long it’s taking professionals to find jobs, and even how they are getting hired.

“Things have happened during the COVID period here, that have really not happened before,” he said. “And a lot of it has to deal with hiring over Zoom.”

It is a way of interviewing Held said she has had to adapt to.

“The way I have always been able to connect to people is the face to face, the body language, the eye contact,” Held said. “But when you’re on a computer, it’s like am I looking over here am I looking over here.”

While she said the process has been discouraging to navigate through, it has ended in her favor as she found a new job.

“While there's been a lot of frustration, I'm excited to be able to share with people, keep networking keep talking to people because your next role could be right around the corner,” she said.